VII. FUTURE MEETINGS OF THE COMMITTEE 88. In accordance with rule 2 of its rules of procedure, the Committee holds two regular sessions each year. In consultation with the Secretary-General, the Committee took decisions on the dates of its regular session for the biennium 2008-2009. Those dates are: Fortieth Forty-first Forty-second Forty-third 26 April-16 May 2008 3-21 November 2008 4-22 May 2009 9-27 November 2009 89. Since 1995 the Committee has received 203 reports, an average of 16 reports per year. In this same period the Committee has considered an average of 13 reports per year, a total of 163 reports. This means that at 18 May 2007, the last day of the thirty-eighth session, there were 26 reports awaiting consideration. In 1995, 88 countries were party to the Convention against Torture. In 2007 there are 144 States parties thus constituting a 64 per cent increase. During this time there has been no increase in the plenary meeting time allocated to the Committee. 90. There are two interlinked issues that need to be considered. One is the importance of providing the Committee with sufficient meeting time for it to undertake its work in an efficient manner, and the second is to facilitate the consideration of the backlog of over 25 reports awaiting review. 91. Insofar as the first issue is concerned, dealing with the incoming workload can be addressed by the Committee meeting for two three-week sessions per year, thereby enabling the Committee to deal with 16 reports per year or approximately the number received each year. 92. The second issue raises the important requirement of addressing the current backlog of 30 reports pending before the Committee. This represents a backlog of two years, meaning that a report submitted to the Committee in June 2007 would not be considered before November 2009. The Committee considers that it could deal with the backlog were it authorized to meet on an exceptional basis for three sessions per year during the biennium 2008-2009. The third (exceptional) session in each of the years 2008 and 2009 would be dedicated exclusively to the consideration of States parties’ reports. The Committee would be able to consider 10 reports per exceptional session. 143